Australia 52–0 Fiji — Semi-final, 2008 Rugby League World Cup
16 Nov 2008 · Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia · Attendance: 15,855
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Semi-final, 2008 Rugby League World Cup: Australia 52–0 Fiji, at Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia on 16 Nov 2008.
Scorers
| Australia | Tries: Slater (3); Thurston (3); Tate (2); Gallen; Inglis Goals: Thurston (6/10) |
| Fiji | No scorers recorded. |
This result sent Australia into the Final against New Zealand.
Teams
| Australia | Fiji | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Slater | Fullback | Jarryd Hayne | 1 |
| 2 | Joel Monaghan | Wing | Semi Tadulala | 2 |
| 3 | Greg Inglis | Centre | Wes Naiqama (c) | 3 |
| 4 | Israel Folau | Centre | Daryl Millard | 4 |
| 5 | Brent Tate | Wing | Akuila Uate | 5 |
| 6 | Darren Lockyer (c) | Stand off/Five eighth | Alipate Noilea | 6 |
| 7 | Johnathan Thurston | Scrum half/Half back | Aaron Groom | 7 |
| 8 | Steve Price | Prop forward | Osea Sadrau | 8 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith | Hooker | Waisale Sukanaveita | 9 |
| 10 | Petero Civoniceva | Prop forward | Ilisoni Vonomateiratu | 10 |
| 11 | Anthony Laffranchi | Second row | Ashton Sims | 11 |
| 12 | Glenn Stewart | Second row | Sevanaia Koroi | 12 |
| 13 | Paul Gallen | Loose forward/Lock forward | Jayson Bukuya | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Karmichael Hunt | James Storer | 14 | |
| 15 | Craig Fitzgibbon | Nick Bradley-Qalilawa | 15 | |
| 16 | Anthony Tupou | Semisi Tora | 17 | |
| 17 | Brent Kite | Jone Wesele | 19 | |
| Ricky Stuart | Coach | Josaia "Joe" Dakuitoga | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Ashley Klein (Australia) |
| Touch judges | Steve Chiddy, Paul Holland — single-sourced |
| Player of the match | Not confirmed to Tier-1 standard — sources disagree between Thurston and Slater |
Match report
Australia routed Fiji 52-0 at the Sydney Football Stadium to reach a third straight World Cup final, with Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston scoring hat-tricks and leading 26-0 at half-time. Fiji, appearing in only their second World Cup semi-final, never got into the contest — Brent Tate (2 tries) left the field with a hip injury before half-time and Fiji winger Akuila Uate suffered a knee injury in the second half.
Source note: player of the match is disputed between sources (Thurston vs Slater) and not confirmed on rugbyleagueproject.org; not published here.
Previous World Cup meetings
- 1995 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): Australia 66–0 Fiji
- 2000 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): Australia 66–8 Fiji
- 2013 Rugby League World Cup (Group A): Australia 34–2 Fiji
- 2013 Rugby League World Cup (Semi-final): Australia 64–0 Fiji
- 2017 Rugby League World Cup (Semi-final): Australia 54–6 Fiji
- 2021 Rugby League World Cup (Group B): Australia 42–8 Fiji